Thursday 29 September 2011

Your dog, your personal trainer

Studies show dog owners are more likely to exercise.
Even when I'm feeling lacklustre and bed feels like the only place in the world that makes sense for me to be, a glimpse of my dog is enough to get my arse out the door and pounding the pavement. He really is my best exercising buddy: no moaning, keeps me on my toes and has a bit of a laugh with it all.

What's more, according to experts, studies have identified that as a dog owner, I'm more likely to walk more, walk faster and enjoy an active lifestyle with my pooch in my life.

"I'm fascinated by what a great motivator dogs can be," said Dr Sandra McCune, co-editor of the book, The Health Benefits of Dog Walking for People and Pets.

According to McCune, an animal behaviorist based in Leicestershire, England, studies indicate that if you're a dog walker, you are more likely to meet the guidelines for daily activities.

Dogs are the reason behind 66 per cent, of the walks their owners take each week, according to a recent survey of more than 1,000 adults commissioned by pet food company Mars Petcare.

Experts estimate that 25 per cent of people with children and pets regularly visit parks and other outdoor spaces because of their dog.

"Personally, I have a Labrador," McCune said. "When it's dark, when it's raining, the dog needs a walk, every day."

She said dog walking also strengthens social and communal ties. "If people go out with a dog, they're more likely to have a conversation," she explained.


According to the poll some 44 per cent of dog owners aged 65 and older exercise on a weekly basis because of their dog.

"Dogs are strong drivers of social capital," said McCune, explaining that social capital is a sociological term which she defined as the value of all relationships.

"Dog ownership benefits the entire community," she said.


As workout partners, canines can offer energy, enthusiasm, and the social support so crucial to sticking with an exercise program, according to Shirley Archer, spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise.

"Dogs can provide that companionship," said Archer, a Florida-based fitness instructor. "Frisbee tossing, ball throwing, agility competitions, dog and human boot camps, are great opportunities to be active," she said. "But obedience training is a must."

She cautions that as living creatures dogs need to be taken care of.  "If they ride with you on a bicycle, they need to be trained to stay close," she said. "Keep them hydrated. Check their paws. Don't let them run right after they eat."

Laura Cartwright Hardy, a grandmother and full-time graduate student living in Little Rock, Arkansas, has two huge German Shepherds. "I've had big dogs since I was 20 and that's definitely been part of the reason I've always been fit," said Hardy, who started lifting weights in her 30s so she could carry 40-pound (18.14-kg) bags of dog food with ease.

"They certainly keep you honest about walking," she said. "Those big brown eyes make it impossible to say no." She added that every human walking partner she has had, except her sister and her husband, quit because she went too fast.

Anatomy of a fad diet

Could the South Pole diet work for Jared Leto, too?

As a veteran of virtually every diet under the sun - from the Atkins Plan to the Mars Bar Diet to the Cabbage Soup diet - I sometimes feel like I could write and profit from my own specially devised diet plan.

Editor of Healthy Food Guide Magazine Niki Bezzant has done just that with a scientific sounding diet which restricts foods over a certain temperature... inspired by the Raw Food Diet, perhaps? 

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Benefit of exercising #182

... it makes you smarter! Check out this study in the New York Times.

Weigh in - Week 15 - 10 per cent less of me :)

This week's weigh in was a mixed bag of dieting mayhem.  While a 2 lb loss is 1lb more than I set out aiming for on this diet, I craved it... This loss would have seen me achieving my Club 10 (10 per cent weight loss) and a two stone certificate at my Slimming World meeting.

Losing 1.5lbs is  a good achievement, considering my swaying from plan, but it meant I only got the club 10. So I'm just 1/2 lb away from my 2 stone award. So, this week's goal is another 1.5lbs to bring me to 17 s 6 1/2lbs. That will work for me!

Good luck to anyone out there weighing this week. Let's hope the Gods of dieting are on our sides!

Monday 26 September 2011

Dance, dance, dance your way to weight loss

So I've booked myself in for a 10 week Middle Eastern dancing course at the local college. I'm aiming to shimmy away the calories with a spot of bellydancing.

If the effects of dancing were ever to be seen, you can always trust the Dancing With the Stars contestants. The latest pics from Kirstie Alley make good viewing! While she credits Organic Liaison with this great result, diet can't sculpt, nip and tuck!

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Weigh in - success!

Three months in and I've now lost more than 25 lbs and 25 inches! At weigh in I reported a weight loss of 2.5lbs.

Things feel like they're moving again with my weight loss... I'm really hoping that this is the start of a purple patch where the weight loss, diet and exercise really start falling into place.

In the short-term, I'm looking for a weight loss of at least 2lbs next week. This will gain me my club 10 (10% body weight loss) and my 2 stone certificate. In the longer term I am shooting for a weight of no more than 16 s 7lbs by 28 November.  That gives me 9 weeks to shed 1 stone 2.5lbs and along the way that will see me pass the 2 stone, 2 1/2 stone and 3 stone marks. This weight loss goal will also ensure that I am at (or below) my pre-giving-up-smoking weight on 2nd December. That will mark 3 years off the cigarrettes.

Sunday 18 September 2011

Weigh in - Week 13 - Highs and lows...

So it's been a whopping six weeks since I last properly checked in. During this time we've had highs and lows but for the most part I think my weight's changed very little.  And even that is an overstatement! I think I've only shifted 6.5lbs in the past few weeks. Next weigh in is tomorrow and I'm hoping to increase my 1 stone 10lb weight loss that little bit further:

Start weight  :  19s 7.5 lb
Weight now  :  17s 12.0lb

I've had a good week these past few days, so I'm really hopeful that this week will see me get a little bit closer to the 2 stone mark (4.5lbs away) and my Club 10 goal (4lbs away).

The exercise has really been upped the last few weeks and I'm starting to feel myself being able to get more active as a result of the increased fitness. As well as my daily walks with the dog and laser tag I'm doing a Zumba session each week and an extra laser tag. During this past week I've reintroduced swimming and I've also started transforming every other dog walk into a dog run of 2 miles. Next week I'll aim to increase the dog walk to 2.5 miles of intervals (25m run, 25m walk).

This exercise has had a significant impact on my body's shape. Last week I took in my new measurements:

Bust            50                45              -5
Waist          51                45              -6
Hips           55                50              -5
Neck           16.5            15               -1.5
Left thigh    31.5            27.5            -4
Right thigh  31.5            28               -3.5


I'm still tracking my wrist and calf measurements but there haven't been any noticeable changes there!

That said, that's a loss of 25 inches in just three months of following Slimming World and focusing on my activity levels! I'm particularly impressed by the reduction in my thighs... incredible, isn't it?!?

Perhaps at the end of six months I'll post a before/after. I'm taking my time this time with the weight loss as I'm trying not to rush it and risk regaining, so I'm thinking that holding back is the best way to go!

Off to play some squash - will write more tomorrow after the weigh in!

17 Day Diet... Does it work?

Another diet, another gimmick... And guess what, this fad diet doesn't even pretend to live up to its name. Forget 17 days, this one needs a 51 day commitment!

Like most diet plans, the 17 day diet is about eating less, moving more... packaged up nicely and marketed by its USP - the 17-day cycles. Why, oh why, do they keep putting this stuff out. And - more importantly - why oh why do the public keep lapping it up???

Fear laced with confusion is my best bet! We all know - far too well - thanks to government health campaigns and the drugs companies - why need to keep trim: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, etc (I could go on for days!). But when it comes to slimming down and finding the right path the marketeers are having a field day - if you pay them enough attention!

Sadly there isn't a glamorous way out of being overweight, obese or even morbidly obese (as am I!).  There are just two golden rules to losing weight: understand what foods contain in terms of nutrition (calories, sugars, fats) and keep your intake in check.  The old adage of eat less, move more isn't quite so.  Yes, eating less bad foods is a good thing, but surely you need to eat more good. And that old adage of moving more has been disproved by medical research at playing a key role in helping people lose weight. Of course, exercise helps keep weight gain at bay while delivering fitness benefits ( and cosmetic ones to boot)!



With so much confusion out there between good foods and bad foods, is it any wonder that we're facing an obesity epidemic while millions in the world starve?